The Timber Pony
by BlueJaybird45
Summary: Sometimes, the best place to be is in a place of ignorance. This is how WildHeart has lived her life. Oblivious to the world, until an event that changes her life forever. Embarking on a quest of self discovery, she must pick her way through a world torn by others. Fact: Encroachers are Ponies.
1. The Beginning

Deep, deep, in the Everfree Forest, a pack of timber wolves sniff the air. They know this smell well, it is that of the Encroachers. Those things, on a regular basis, went into timber wolf territory, to destroy them. They were evil. Pure evil. That's why the timber wolves tried to drive them out of their land, however, it never seemed to work. This encroacher smelt different though, of death, and milk. The timber wolves decided to investigate.

Just beyond some bushes, were two encroachers, stinking of death. The timber wolves poked them a few times, before asserting that they were dead. Then, they noticed something. Not too far off from the dead ones, lay a small bundle of something. This something was were the weird milk scent came from.

The alpha timber wolf took a step closer, remembering the false scents of the forest. He slowly turned over the bundle, and inside was a small green encroacher! Except unlike the other two, this one didn't stink at all of death, but rather, a faint, faint, scent of milk, and life.

The alpha jumped back and howled the warning howl. All the present timber wolves were suddenly afraid. When this howl was made by an alpha, it typically meant that something highly dangerous was near. Usually this was reserved for the other dangerous creatures of the forest, but in worse case scenarios, it meant that a double encroacher, or one with wings and a destruction horn was present.

One wolf though was confused. She was the timber wolf version of a biologist. Her name was Oak.

Oak had been studying the encroachers for a while, and knew that there were only five double encroachers. A sixth one didn't make any sense. She decided to take a closer look.

The alpha didn't bother to stop her, knowing that Oak had more power over him in these matters, but he still worried for her safety. She was, after all, a pack member, and one of his more valuable ones.

As Oak drew nearer to the small encroacher, she noticed a weird scent of milk. _Must've still been nursing, poor thing_ , she matter how the other wolves thought of the encroachers, she couldn't help but feel pity for the little ones, remembering full well how it was like to be small, in a world of giants. She then decided that she had enough of thinking about her life, and went back to focusing on the young encroacher.

It was an odd green color, like it was covered in moss. Like alpha had warned, it was a double encroacher, except its horn was snapped and the wings looked like a meadow of grass, and less like encroacher wings. It also had weird moose like horns sprouting out of its head. _Hm, certainly is an odd one._ She looked over to the dead ones. This young one didn't resemble what Oak presumed to be its parents. _Wonder where it came from._

Oak turned back to the pack. "Though you may detest my decision, I say let us bring this young encroacher to study it, and to use it for our benefit in our cause. It may prove useful in our never-ending war on the encroachers. So says Oak, the Encroacher studier", Oak said.

The other wolves stared at her in confusion. Mostly, out of the fact that Oak referred to herself in third person, but also her willingness to just study some encroacher, what was she hoping to accomplish by this?

Alpha spoke up, "Oak, I know that this is not your way. You do not study creatures. You accept strange beings into our packs. I have accepted this for a while, but an encroacher?! Do you know how dangerous these beings can be? Not only have they taken our homelands, but they have destroyed countless members of our pack. This encroacher is not to be trusted. Also, I did not give you permission to say what we should do with it! I didn't even allow you to check it! I refuse your _suggestion._ "

"We can't leave a helpless creature to die! Do you not remember StrongHeart the Noble? He was not a wolf, but rather one of those ill-famed 'cows', yet during his time as Alpha, he led this tribe into one of its greatest ages in our history. Who says that this encroacher couldn't lead us the same way as well!?"

While the two timber wolves were arguing, the young encroacher let out a piercing wail.

"Do you not know that sound Alpha? Or are your ears full of brambles? This young creature wishes for milk. It is against our creed to starve a creature, except during a hunt", yelled out Oak.

A random wolf, whose name was probable something stupid, piped up "Who says we aren't hunting? Was that not what we were doing before? Where in our laws does it say that we can't eat an encroacher?"

This statement caused an uproar amongst the pack. About half the pack was against eating encroachers (for their own personal reasons), but the other side believed that encroachers were under them in the food chain.

" _ **Silence!**_ " Alpha roared. "There will be no such arguing in my pack! If Oak wants to take this thing into our pack, so be it. But she will no longer be allowed full pack benefits. She will still be allowed to hunt with the pack, but she may not eat with the pack, sleep with the pack, or talk to the pack. These rules don't apply to the thing, for it has done nothing wrong."

No one could argue with that, literally. The Alpha's word was final.

So, as everyone loped home, Oak picked up the little encroacher.

"You know, I hate calling you 'encroacher', I think I'll call you WildHeart". And with that, she went off, following the pack. 

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**A message from the author: This is my first story. Please don't be too harsh on it. Also, if you think that this is worth going on with, PLEASE comment/review. I need it. Thanks.**


	2. Just boring old hunting

**Though I haven't really gotten a lot of views/ reviews, I'm updating it anyway, in hopes of more viewers. This chapter is both weird, and uneventful. It's considerably shorter than the first, but oh well. Hope you enjoy it anyway.**

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This deep in the woods, sun just touched the ground, giving it a faint glow. This of course, didn't bother WildHeart. She loved the dark woods, just like any old Timberwolf. It didn't hurt her eyes as bad as the edges of the woods did. No, here in the deep woods, you could see more clearly. Here, the grass didn't grow normally. It grew in weird patches wherever the sun was, and moved with it. WildHeart had always grown up here. Just her and Oak. Alone.

The reasons for their not living with the other Timberwolves was a mystery to WildHeart, Oak never really went into the details, and WildHeart stopped pestering after a while. She eventually assumed that it was because of something like eating out of turn, or going into the encroacher world unaided. Again, she never really thought about it.

 _Enough thinking._ She thought. She needed to go back to hunting. She was on the trail of a rabbit. All rabbits had a grassy-earth-fishy scent to them (where the fish came from, no one knew). This one was no different. Suddenly, WildHeart heard something, her ears swiveled towards the sound. It was the rabbit. It had made the mistake of going past the leaf wall (again, no one knew where that came from). WildHeart licked her sharp, pointed teeth. She had this rabbit trapped.

Slowly, she inched towards it. So slowly, that it felt like hours. Sometimes it took hours to catch a rabbit. They were flighty and moved at the slightest rustle of the leaves. Served them right when everything was against them. From the small stantipede to the mighty dragon, they all ate rabbits. It was a fact of life. WildHeart and Oak were no exceptions. Rabbits were the easiest thing to catch.

As WildHeart neared the rabbit, she smelt a new smell on it, on that was foreign to her. It smelt like cakes, and flowers. Most rabbits smelt wilder, but this didn't. It smelt like it lived outside the forest. In the land of light. WildHeart flinched at this smell, breaking her concentration. She accidentally stepped on a tiny twig, which under normal circumstances, wouldn't have mattered. Sadly, due to the quietness of the forest, the rabbit heard it. It fled like a bolt of lightning.

Giving up her stealth, WildHeart gave chase. She was faster than most Timberwolves. She could chase down a rabbit with ease, she just preferred stealth. The rabbit was surprisingly smart. It tried putting itself in odd corners and holes, but WildHeart knew these tricks. She managed to trap the rabbit in a corner. The rabbit gave her a pleading look. It looked so sad, but WildHeart was used to these eyes. Every Timberwolf pup that did this to her furthered her resilience to these eyes. The rabbit, seeing its hopelessness let out a little squeal. WildHeart killed it with a quick bite to the throat.

As soon as it was dead, she felt a strange wave of something wash over her, coming from the rabbit. Something like love, but slightly different. She doubled nearly fell back from the force of it. This never happened before, why now? What was so special about this rabbit? She slowly crawled to the rabbit, the wave too strong to allow her to walk. She saw a strange little piece of metal on the rabbit's neck that showed an angel on it. Thinking this to be the source of this wave, WildHeart grasped it with her teeth, and threw it as far away as she could. Sure enough, the wave stopped. Confused, but hungry, WildHeart picked up the rabbit in her teeth and started out towards hers and Oak's house.

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 _Meanwhile, back in Ponyville…_

"ANGEL!? WHERE ARE YOU?! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE COME BACK HERE RIGHT NOW!" A distressed Fluttershy nearly screamed.

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 **Yeah, I never really like Angel anyways. Stay tuned for more!**


	3. Suspense is building

**Yeah sorry if any confusion has occurred, the time between chapter 1 & 2 is about 15 years. I would update more, but some PEOPLE haven't really been telling anything *cough* you guys *cough*. So, though the last chapter may seem weird, I have a madness to my method. All will be explained (most, or not that much). Hey, if you think this isn't worth it, please let me know.**

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WildHeart and Oak didn't live in a very extravagant home, if you'd even call it a home. It was more like a little alcove hidden within the trees. Not like it was a crappy run down place though. It had a bunch of nice rocks to lie your head down. It was also waterproof. The only downside was the fact that it was very dark. Making it very easy to bump into things. You eventually got used to the darkness.

From the outside, their home just appeared to be a thicket of trees, but if you looked very very carefully, you'd see that there was a small little opening in a patch of rocks nearby. If you went through that, you'd get to what seemed to a small little dirt cave. At this point, many leave (who'd want to go in? To be revealed), but then you'd need to look again until you found a certain rock. There were dozens upon dozens in the cave, so, good luck finding it. Now when, and if, you found this rock, you'd need to throw it at another special rock (good luck) and then a hole would open up. This entire system had been found by WildHeart and Oak. How long it took them to find out this process is of no importance to this story, but I'll give you a hint. WildHeart grew up during this process. In actuality, it wasn't until a few months ago that they found it out. But I'm getting distracted.

So as WildHeart was nearing her home, she was wondering about the rabbit in her mouth. Most rabbits died a peaceful uneventful death. But no, this one was different. Why was it different? She wondered the full time she was loping home. Why?

When she had gone through the security stuff, WildHeart let out a welcome howl and waited.

Oak appeared within moments.

She was a pretty much stereotypical timberwolf. Large, brown, twiggy. Stuff like that. The only interesting thing about her was Oak's sapphire blue eyes. These were pretty much the only thing that distinguished Oak from every other wolf. That and her scent, but that's not important

Oak sniffed the rabbit a few times, and took a bite out-of it. WildHeart then started to devour the rabbit, knowing Oak didn't eat much.

When WildHeart had picked the rabbit to the bone, Oak suddenly brought out a question.

"WildHeart, where did this rabbit come from?"

This was a confusing question to WildHeart. Why would Oak randomly ask such a question? Normally, Oak and WildHeart would eat, and then sleep. So, why now?

WildHeart replied, "I found it near the leaf wall, why?"

"Because as I was smelling it, I smelt a hint of encroacher on it."

"What's so bad about a bunny that lives near encroachers?"

"Typically, anything that lives near the encroachers, is fed by them, and if they're fed by them, then.."

"Yeah I know, they care about them, and they'll kill us timberwolves. I've heard this multiple times already Oak, so what? We can hide"

"WildHeart, I'm getting too old for these kind-of things. My body will give our positions away."

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 **Did I mention, timberwolves (in this universe) lose their leaves and twigs as they get older?**

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"Why not fight?"

WildHeart would ask this question very often, each time hoping for a different answer, but it was always the same.

"WildHeart, you know we can't fight encroachers. They have too many advantages over us."

"Then, how about? No, that wouldn't work. Arghhhhh!"

WildHeart plopped down, frustrated.

This argument always ended this way. Never was there any difference in their arguments. Ever.

Hearing the cue from the narrator that it was pretty much time to go to bed, WildHeart walked dejectavly to her "room", otherwise known as a wall of bushes.

Oak looked sadly at WildHeart, wishing she could say the truth, wishing that tomorrow would never have to come.

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 **Alright, so this is a pretty crappy spot to end this chapter, I didn't want to end here either, but I do need to keep you guys hanging. How else are people going to read this?**

 **This chapter was rather short, and I didn't want it to end this way, but I do need other chapters.**


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